Virtual Coach » Secrets

How To Make and Write An Ebook From Scratch Tutorial

Barbara — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:30:55 +0000

Morning!

Over at my forums, the following question was asked:

How do I make an ebook?

and I figured that rather than answer the whole thing over there, I’d walk the walk I talk in Income Fitness and write up a comprehensive post HERE in my blog, and then add a note THERE that I’ve prepared a great resource for free. This delivers the following benefits to my readers:

1.) Folks on the forum get led back to this blog

2.) On said blog, I have additional ways to grow my list to assist me in future marketing!

3.) This blog post will get indexed not only in Google, but also have a chance to be tweeted/stumbled/FB’d etc. as well.

A win win no matter what!

So let’s get to it. I’ve been writing books and ebooks now since 1997…and here’s the exact way I do it. (And be certain you read to the VERY END – I include the absolute best resource for making an ebook you can find anywhere online).

Step 1.) Find a profitable problem.

I didn’t ALWAYS do this before, mind you. Back when I was starting, I’d write on anything that interested me.

That’s great for my ego but lousy for my bank account. You should ALWAYS ensure there’s a targeted audience for your final product!

Next,

Step 2.) Define a HASHTAG!

Fooled you there, didn’t I?

But! A hashtag related to your future book can do wonders in promotion!

To wit, check out:

Twubs #IncomeFitness

I started using that hashtag while considering just how to formulate my latest, Income Fitness. Heck, I even created a whole forum and community around it:

Anything you can do to promote your intentions with regards to your ebook – it’s a great thing indeed!

Next,

Step 3.) Write out your eBook’s Table of Contents

This step helps you decide just HOW you want your ideas to flow. One useful tip is to use free mind map software to help organize your thoughts – those (the software, NOT your thoughts) can be found at

And to write your TOC, check out these 2 resources:

Ready to continue? Okay then, move to:

Step 4.) Tweet about your activities!

Start to seed the Internet with your intentions; let your Twitter followers know you’re happily engrossed in writing a tremendous resource!

Remember that hashtag you defined in Step 2? Now it’s time to start using it! Here’s 3 examples of what I’ve done:

RT @barbaraling I’m so excited – check out my FIRST! real live "it’s me!" #IncomeFitness #video! ping.fm/pSuTN.
Can YOU find the delightfully agonizing typo in my latest #video? ping.fm/bCKkF #IncomeFitness WAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! #marketing.
New #Squeeze page for #IncomeFitness – What do you think? ping.fm/89aU2 #marketing #money #business #wahm.

Step 5.) Choose a Layout for your eBook

Over the past 12 years or so, I’ve basically settled on one particular "Barbara Ling" ebook layout. But if you need some ideas, you can explore:

Microsoft Word – it comes with a book template (My first book, The Internet Recruiting Edge, used this template).

How to create an awesome eBook Template using Word or Apple Pages

Open Office eBook Templates

Step 6.) Write your eBook

The fun part! Using your Table of Contents as a reference, start writing your ebook. Here are some important points to consider:

Start off by telling your readers what you’re going to tell them.
Tell them said material.
Close by telling them what you just told them.

Believe it or not, the above is a very effective method of teaching (as well as as giving seminars too. But I digress. )!

Once the meat of your ebook is done, dive into:

Step 7.) Add some proactive marketing

You know how you can add headers and footers to your ebooks? It never fails to amaze me how sooo many authors simply forget about this valuable marketing technique!

You can include active hyperlinks back to:

Your site
Your newsletter
Your social profiles
Another product of yours
Your forums

etc.etc.etc.

For example, here’s the footer on Income Fitness:

Income Fitness
Copyright 2009 until eternity by Barbara Ling
All Rights Reserved
www.virtual-coach.com/forums/forums.php

The Income Fitness community offers my readers quite a lot of benefits, including free Income Fitness Personal Journals, marketing help, Squidoo ideas and more!

So I want to drive traffic there as well.

Step 8.) Add a Recommended Resources Appendix

In this section, you can add affiliate products that you recommend ALONG with your affiliate link embedded! If someone buys…you get the commission.

You should also cloak your affiliate links too.

Whats link cloaking?

Cloak affiliate links

Cloak your affiliate links for free!

are some popular threads on our community for that.

Step 9.) Add an Acknowledgements section

It’s always nice to offer a shoutout for people who have helped you in the past!

Here’s mine:

Acknowledgements

A public thank you – I’ve been making my living online now for over a decade and during this time, have been blessed by the following individuals:

· Bill Vick, Wallace Harkness, Dr. Ilyse O’Desky, Terry Zappulla, Ed Horch, Mary Ellen Ferrara, Tony Blake, and bunches more.

· I’m also deeply grateful to the blogosphere and the super folks from whom I learned including Liz Strauss, Mark Davidson, Suzie Cheel, Joanna Young, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Maureen Sharib, Jim Stroud, Judi Sohn, Catherine Lawson, Maki, Wendy Piersall, John Chow, Gab Goldenberg, James Chartrand, Skellie, Crow, Joel Falconer, Melinda, Lorelle , Brad Shorr, Cath Lawson, Barbara Swafford, Ulla Hennig and many more as well.

· And I would most remiss indeed if I neglected to mention Bonnie and the RocketMoms of Squidoo! They taught me an incredible amount about how terrific Squidoo is for anyone online.

Next, I am indebted to:

o Donna Gillespie, author of the life-changing books The Light Bearer and Lady of the Light – one of the most superb writers today.

Last but never least:

My family. My wonderful husband, Moses Ling, my terrific kids, my wondrous mooses, my absolutely fantastic parents – none of this would be possible whatsoever without their love and support. This one’s for you, folks!

Dedication

To my husband:

Income Fitness is dedicated to my husband, Moses Ling…the man in my life who keeps me sane and gives me the truest meaning to my life.

I love you the mostest. Always.

Barbara Ling

Fortune favors the bold.

People read the acknowledgement, make no mistake about that! So make it worthwhile (and provide active hyperlinks back whenever possible. It’s just a nice thing to do.

Step 10.) Make a PDF copy of your ebook, test out the links and secure it!

Once your book is done, make a PDF copy of it and test out the links. I personally use Adobe Acrobat Distiller – other resources include:

And THAT’S one way to create and write an ebook from scratch.

Want some other soup-to-nuts ebook creation ideas? Check out:

Write, Publish and Market Your Ebook: Step-by-Step Tutorial

How to Write an Ebook that Sells in 2009

How To Write An Ebook Using MacJournal

Tips for Writing a Great Ebook

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I forgot about:

The BEST eBook Creation and Writing Resource I’ve found!

Building an eBook Empire

I reviewed it over at

MUST SEE for newbies regarding ebooks

and let me tell you – it’s worth its weight in Gold. Go visit the site yourself – you’ll see what I mean.

Hope you found this tutorial useful! Please do feel free to tweet about it and send it to your colleagues – I’ll bet they enjoy it as well.

Thanks!

Best wishes,

Barbara Ling

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Give BACK to Your Affiliates – Covert Angel Time

Barbara — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:38:30 +0000

Hey there everyone,

I’m pleased to announce that Income Fitness is receiving tremendous reviews! And these aren’t your typical, "I WANNA grab my affiliate commission so I’ll review it" reviews, but really well-thought out and insightful essays instead! Here are two you can check out:

Really…go check out those reviews, I’m rather humbled by what is said.

But here’s something to consider! You might be wondering right now that if I launched two days ago, how come there aren’t MORE reviews online?

Simple! It’s because during this first week…I’ve closed my affiliate program to ONLY my inner circle.

Go see for yourself at my Affiliate Sign up. You’ll notice..you can’t. You need a special password to get in.

You see, whenever I launch a product, I always want to give those people who have helped me out the best possible chance of making the most commissions/generating the most leads for themselves, etc.etc.etc.etc.

Sure, short-term…it might decrease MY overall income (who wouldn’t want a big-name marketer to offer to promote?) …. but long-term, I can sleep happily at night knowing I gave back to those who have helped me in the past.

Which now brings me to you!!

If you have your own product/run your own service/business/etc., AND have your own affiliate marketing process spelled out for your affiliates, go that extra step FOR THEM!

Show your affiliates you value their time and the effort they spend on your behalf…and close your affiliate program to ONLY those who are in your "inner circle" until one week after launch.

You’re effectively increasing their future commissions by restricting promotion ONLY to them. It’s up to them how they want to take advantage of it, of course…but at least you’re showing that good faith.

And of course, you can reward other people with entry into your Inner circle.

For example, yesterday a marketer showed me where I had let something slip thru the cracks in my customer-care followup – if said marketer wants to promote IF this week, I’m certainly going to let him as a way to show MY thanks (it’s amazing how many people will see mistakes online and NOT go out of their way to alert the author. I REALLY value it when folks draw my attention to things that need to be changed!).

Here’s how I choose my timing:

The first week after launch – only my Inner circle can promote. Thus…my affiliate signup page is passwded.
The next week after launch – anyone who contacts me to promote can promote. My affiliate signup page is still passwd, but I’ll share the password when someone asks.
The next week AFTER that – I take off the passwd on my affiliate signup page and anyone can promote it.

Remember…what goes around, comes around. I have folks in my Inner circle who helped me out back in the late 1990s….I never forget when someone does me a good turn (‘course, I never forget when someone tries to screw me too).

Thus, in closing…if you’re running an affiliate program, show your affiliates how much you appreciate them and give them the edge in generating commissions. It’s only the right thing to do.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – want to see what IF is all about? Check out my very first video on it!

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6 Brilliant Squeeze Page Resources You'll Want To Explore Part 1

Barbara — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:02:26 +0000

Well hello there! So nice to see you at my blog – hope today has been treating you delightfully indeed!

Over here in LingLand, I’ve been up to my earlobes designing the Income Fitness squeeze page. You know, those one page thingees like Free Income Fitness sample, whose main purpose in life is to both deliver value to your readers and grow your list?

Well, that’s all very well and good for my free ebook giveaway, but Income Fitness is a blueprint…it’s a proven methodology of growing your income online by following simple easy steps that even your Aunt Bertha could accomplish.

So….. a different kind of squeeze page is needed. One with video! One with action! One with excitement!

You get the idea, eh?

Now, I myself am pretty savvy with photoshop and squeeze page optin design. I’ve been building sites/making money online now for over a decade, so such things are second nature to me.

But that’s not as important as YOU.

You might have a life outside of geekdom and design and hacking and the like, and appreciate the convenience of push-button squeeze pages. Thus, this article will center on all the great nifty squeeze page help that’s waiting for you to take advantage of!

Let’s first start off with:

WordPress Squeeze Page Generator Theme – this is the theme I myself use on this site. It’s called the Flexibility theme and makes creating a basic squeeze page as easy as clicking one button! Free Income Fitness uses it. You can read my review of it over at

Superb Profitable Affiliate Marketing WordPress Theme – Flexsqueeze

and then check it out over HERE.

What if you want simple ways to create squeeze pages? Enter:

Instant Squeeze Page Generator (free!)

This free (yes, it’s free!) site gives you templates you can use to create your own squeeze pages on your site. I just tried it out myself and it’s a terrific resource for folks who just want to get the squeeze page done as quickly as possible.

Check it out HERE.

Some people don’t like the idea of smashing visitors over the head with offers and the like; they prefer to intrigue readers to want to learn more. If you’re of that bent, you’ll be interested in the:

Reverse Squeeze Page Generator

This software is for content sites with lots of posts, articles, etc.etc.etc. People visit, read one article, get intrigued, read another, read another, and then instead of being able to access the rest, they are directed to a squeeze page that offers a free gift plus access to the rest of your content.

It’s a neat concept!

Check it out HERE.

Now, what if you want other great free squeeze page goodness? You’re in luck – check out these great threads at our community.

How do I make a squeeze page?

How to I create good looking optin boxes

How do I make a squeeze page?

you’ll find them most useful indeed.

This concludes part 1 of Squeeze Page goodness. Part II will be written on Thursday, and ideally tackle adding video marketing goodness and other bonuses to your already magnificent site. See you then!!

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – have you benefitted from and enjoyed the free goodies our community offers yet? If not, get thee hence to the Virtual Coach Income Fitness Forums and post all of your questions – you’ll receive fast friendly help that will assist you in growing your business online. And did I mention…it’s free?

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How to dramatically increase your optin list with ease

Barbara — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:20:52 +0000

Morning!

Yes, I know….today I’m supposed to write Part II about Gratuitous Profits via CommentLuv. It occured to me, however, that I should really proactively demonstrate part II FIRST…and then reveal to my readers just what I managed to secretly achieve.

So! You’ll be seeing part II next Monday. For today, I’d like to talk instead about your optin mailing list.

You DO have one, right? You know, it’s that thing called your newsletter or your ezine or your free 7 day eclass or your ….. anything, in fact, that compels your blog visitors to give you their email address so you can contact them in the future.

Your optin list is powered by your autoresponder. I myself have been using aWeber now for over 8 years – you can read my review of it at

Review – aWeber autoresponder, going on 8 years now

Anywhos! As you might have heard, the money is in the list. The bigger your list is, the more people who see your products/affiliate links/blogs/etc., and the more probability that someone will buy from you.

Remember – the money is in the list.

Thus, to really beef up your Income Fitness, you WANT to ensure your list grows and grows and grows and grows and grows and ….. you get the idea.

Now, a great way to do this is to have some sort of giveway (here’s MINE, the first installation of my Income Fitness series). You want to make it IMPOSSIBLE for your visitors to miss it! What I do is include an optin in my right sidebar, on the top of my page, plus I occassionally drive traffic via Twitter.

But I also use…..

You see, every 3 or 4 times someone visits my site, the above graphic pops up ON MY FOOTER.

This immediately draws the attention of the visitor…and more likely than not, they’ll sign up if the bonus appeals to them.

I bought this about 3 months ago and really have found it to be tops indeed.

Thus….want to dramatically grow YOUR optin list? Visit:

www.OptinFooters.com

and see for yourself. Chances are, you’ll be most pleasantly surprised indeed.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

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Big huge video marketing launch hype

Barbara — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:27:30 +0000

Morning!

Have you heard of the most recent big huge video marketing launch hype?

How marketers can sell these ideas for the price it is commanding…amazing.

Luckily, there are far more cost-conscious ideas out there! For example, Video Assassin (look thru my blog for my review, it’s excellent) gives you quality ideas and takes you by the hand for precise how-to steps for marketing….at a fraction of the cost.

Remember peoples, whenever big huge expensive launches come out, you should first explore if anything else exists that costs much less yet does deliver on the promises.

A marketer’s job is to make something so incredibly yummy, you’d sacrifice your last cup of coffee for it.

Your job is to research FIRST and FOREMOST.

I’m all for paying for a quality product (I’ve done so in the past myself) but I’m also all for making wise investments with my money.

If you’re looking for video marketing goodness, do check out Video Assassin. You’ll be most happy with your purchase indeed.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – speaking about video marketing, have you seen:

Film & Video Marketing NEW by Michael Wiese

YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Bu

Web VIDEO Marketing COMMERCIAL Get Youtube Traffic HITS

NEW 50 Interviews: Video Marketing Pioneers: How Americ

Super Affiliate Video Marketing – Video Training Course

Video Marketing For Lazy Cash Lovers eBooks ebook free shipping

Youtube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day Jarboe, Greg

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Earn Continuity Money with the Star Trek Craze

Barbara — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:52:51 +0000

Morning!

There’s currently a discussion going on about making money with Star Trek at me forums, and it’s important enough that I really do need to address it here.

I saw the latest Star Trek movie yesterday, and let me tell you …. it’s going to be a huge moneymaker for YEARS to come.

If you’re smart, you’re going to consider weaving in Star Trek products to your niche as well.

And here’s why.

(spoiler alert!)

This Star Trek basically rebooted the ENTIRE freakin’ franchise!

Perhaps you didn’t get that, let me whisper it one more time…

This Star Trek basically rebooted the ENTIRE freakin’ franchise!

This means that Star Trek Canon is now in an alternate reality.

This means there IS not Star Trek The New Generation.
This means there IS not Star Trek Deep Space 9.
This means there IS not Star Trek Voyager.
This means there IS not Star Trek Enterprise.

Vulcan has been destroyed, there are only 10K Vulcans left in the universe, Spock is romantically involved with Uhura and and and….lots of other things too!

In essence, the field is wide open for a new series, a new movie….the Star Trek universe can be taken in virtually any new direction the producers desire.

This will freak out those who live for Star Trek Canon, let me tell you!

But I digress.

Anywhos! This means that anything from old Star Trek Canon (ie, TOS, TNG, DS9,VOY, etc.) will become hot sellers due to those who want to "preserve the past!". And those who are embracing the future….

We’re talking merchandizing that would make Walt Disney swoon with delight.

Thus, you will at the very least want to grab a:

Amazon Affiliate Account
eBay Affiliate Account

and begin considering how you want to create a Star Trek component to your site.

You could include things like:

or incorporate a series of posts about how Star Trek is showing up in your niche.

Trust me, people will read it.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – speaking about Star Trek, have you seen:

Vintage 1960s Space Checkers Pleasantime Star Trek Prop RARE Pacific Game Co.

STAR TREK PROP COSTUME enterprise back pack

star trek prop enterprise console face

star trek prop set wall enterprise life size

STAR TREK PROP ds 9 door decoration screen used

1960s Burke Table and 4 Chairs, Star Trek Prop

Original Star Trek Prop-Vial of Dilithium Crystals

2 Classic STAR TREK prop gun color photos

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HOT!! COVERT Unofficial Keyword Tool – Seize The most craved SHOPPING searches

Barbara — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:25:35 +0000

One way to make money online is to find the most popular searches going on right this minute at shopping sites.

Wouldn’t you agree? And wouldn’t you aree that it would be more spiffy than winning a Free Starbucks Coffee for your Every Life from Now Until Eternity if you could spy directly on that information?

Enter Yahoo Secret Shopping Search!

Well, okay, I just made up that name. But while I was researching ways to contribute to

See what the world is searching for

I came across

Top Searches – Coffee

Notice the URL! It’s

shopping.yahoo.com/t-Coffee

See that t-Coffee?

So! I then replaced

t-Coffee

with

t-NASCAR

ie,

shopping.yahoo.com/t-NASCAR (I was answering the question – Race car business – making money with NASCAR?)

Now is that neat or what?

The coffee search returned:

The NASCAR search returned:

Nice, eh?

What if you wanted to use more than one word? Just add a dash between ‘em!

shopping.yahoo.com/t-Toaster-Ovens

Now if that’s not neat, just paint a bullseye on my fanny and call me Target.

The above is a perfect way to not only get a great idea about what’s popular in your niche…but also how to build up hundreds of targeted keywords as well.

I’ll be writing more about this in the Make Money Income Fitness forums – do feel free to join in!

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

PS – speaking about keywords, have you seen:

Ads By CbproAds

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Agonizingly CRUCIAL – When Your Blog Suddenly IMPLODES, Banish Panic (troubleshoot and deactivate plugins instead to find the hang)

Barbara — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:06:12 +0000

Morning!

Today I was going to write an incredibly moving, thoughtful profound post that would finally reveal the true meaning of life, making money online, and just why everything always angst-worthy seems to happen to me.

Really. Honestly. I really was.

Until….my blog DIED a thrashing, agonizing soul-searing death and self-immolated in a flaming heap of blazing glory.

But not only THIS blog, oh no! That would make life simple! (well, "simple" as in building the pyramids is "simple" compared to "Terra-forming a planet").

No indeed. My BarbaraLing.com blog perished, my AffBrainery Blog succumbed, my ….you get the picture, right?

All at the same time, I might say.

Now if that isn’t brand-spankin’ jollies and quivering delights of the heart, I don’t know what is.

So! I spent a weeeee bit of time ~~cursing the gods and thinking about flinging my coffee into~~ calmly intoning to myself, These things happen and ~~THEY ALWAYS FREAKIN’ HAPPEN TO ME AND~~ a methodical approach of ~~taking a molten sledgehammer to my PC~~ testing out the themes and wordpress plugins and such would be useful.

After verifying that only new posts would cause the sites to hang (which is why I had to delete and repost Big Dog Shocking Secret – Money DOESN’T Have To Be Made TODAY – pls recomment if you’d like as I lost all of them), I deactivated all my plugins to see where the problem was arising.

It turned out to be (eeek!) the Tweet This plugin.

This is a humongous EEK because I LOVE that plugin – it makes it very easy for people to stumble, tweet, etc. posts they like.

I’m in hopes it’s just a glitch…and will be exploring if the plugin has been updated so I can get it back into my site asap.

Remember, if you’re making money with your blog, you need it up at all times!

Here are some resources I found while troubleshooting my rear off:

So! If ALL of a sudden, your blog or site dies an agonizing thrashing death, follow these steps.

1.) Don’t panic.

2.) Don’t panic.

3.) Did I mention, don’t panic?

4.) Go to your WordPress admin console and deactivate all your plugins (don’t worry, you can reactivate them later)

5.) See if your blog loads. If so, continue with Step 6. If not, there might be a problem with your host – contact tech support.

6.) If your blog now loads, see first if any errors show up in the sidebar. They generally result from calling plugins (that you’ve now deactivated). Activate each plugin one by one, and (this is key!) after each activation…..reload your blog.

7.) That’s a pretty important step – let me repeat it. After reactivating EACH plugin, RELOAD your WordPress blog and see if it hangs.

8.) If your blog starts to hang again, you’ve pinpointed the problem plugin. Rejoice! Glue back the hair you ripped from your scalp! REMEMBER THAT PLUGIN. Reactivate everything else EXCEPT that plugin and see if your blog works.

9.) If so, you’ve found the culprit!

10.) If not, deactivate those plugins once more and continue to debug.

Other ideas to consider include:

11.) Tweet about your problem like so:

help My #blog hangs, any new #wordpress #plugin problems lately?

The # (ie, hashtags) will ensure your tweet gets seen by people tracking those keywords (ie, wordpress enthusiasts, plugin developers, etc.).

12.) Post at support sites!

Check out

for ideas on how to use forums, and then visit:

Remember, there is ALWAYS a solution….the key is NOT to panic nor accuse your hosting ISP….simply take a deep breath and JUST FREAKIN’ DO IT.

Your sanity will thank you for it. And then you can calmly go about regaining your poise and stylish dignity and say to yourself….Life! It’s Character-Building.

Time to get the kids up,

Barbara Ling

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Big Dog Shocking Secret – Money DOESN'T Have To Be Made TODAY

Barbara — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:06:29 +0000

Well how nice to see you by my blog again! This post is something I wrote a few months ago…but there’s an update below. I urge you to read it all…see you at the end!

Morning!

When you read about making money online, chances are…you’re thinking about affiliate marketing or Adsense or PPC or or getting new clients or some other common, everyday keyword or acronym or what you have.

Right?

I hope you’re sitting down for the following blindling obvious fact that many people choose to ignore:

Big Dogs in making money online take the LONG-TERM view.

What does that mean?

Simple! It means that the goal doesn’t HAVE to be…money in your paypal account yesterday!

Instead, it means that the goal is making sure that tomorrow brings you MORE people to whom you can market.

Why else do you think some Internet marketers offer you freebies of their products?

It’s to make certain you first get on their list.

Stay with me here, the following is critical! Let me first repeat this:

It’s to make certain you FIRST get on their list.

Once you’re on their list, they can set up automatic followups that every few days or weeks or what have you…send you updating emails. These emails might contain a call to action (check out XYZ product!), it might be an affiliate promotion

(speaking of which , get thee hence to

Automated List Builder and Bonus Delivery System

It has to be seen to be believed – Adrian really outdid himself!)

Where was I? Oh yes! The followup emails in virtually all cases are what brings in the money to the Big Dogs….

NOT the initial product sale.

That’s why products are given away for free or membership sites offer free memberships….it paves the way for Long Term Income.

In other words…money doesn’t HAVE to be made today. It can be made tomorrow and next week and next month and….

See what I mean?

Now, let’s tackle just what this means for YOU.

Refer back to

TUTORIAL – 7 Of The most CONVINCING Ways To Boldly Make Money With Your Blog Sidebar Part 2

TUTORIAL – 7 Of The MOST Fascinating Ways To Monetize Your Sidebar Part 1

Notice how I emphasize the positioning of my autoresponder (in this case, it’s my newsletter where I give away a complimentary copy of 13 Ways You Are Leaving Money on the Table).

In other words….

I do NOT have my affiliate stuff up top nor my advertising nor any PPC….I have my optin form.

That is because I know the power of future marketing to satisfied readers.

So! Ask yourself….how can you focus on the long-term profit-building on your own blog or website?

Do you offer any of the following in a blindly obvious fashion?

Newsletter
Free 7 Day eClass
Free eBook
Free White Paper

In other words….

Anything that gives people a reason to get on your list?

If so, ensure it’s, ahem, blindingly obvious to the readers!

But merely having that present isn’t a guarantee your readers will opt in and join….ideally you can also consider using a squeeze page as well.

Here’s mine for my newsletter.

Notice how the only way off that page is to either sign up or press the back button?

That’s called a Squeeze page, and because I’m using the Flexibility Theme, it took only one click to create the template (I HIGHLY recommend this theme if you’re serious about making money online – it simplifies a great number of affiliate/marketing tasks).

See? I’ll be covering more about squeeze pages in a later post as well.

Thus, in closing, when you want to make money on the Internet, no matter in what fashion (getting more clients, affiliate marketing, niche-building, etc.etc.etc.), do NOT take the short term view!!

Focus on building your list instead to address long-term profitability…your bank account will thank you for it indeed.

Enjoy,

Barbara

Wow, fancy bumping into you here! Did you find the above article eye-opening at bit? I would certainly hope so, as lately it seems the

Make Insane Amounts of Money By Giving It All To MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

sites are becoming more prevalent online than a plague of slime-infested mosquitos.

I’m talking, of course, about sites that tell you it’s ONLY $1.98 to access 7 days’ worth of information, and then hit your credit card for the $99/month fees that were revealed ONLY in the Terms of Service page.

I was interviewed about that last week (you can read the article at I’m quoted in the LA Times about Twitter, Scams, Buyer Beware, and Reading the TOS). And you can see other newsworthy articles about similar scams over at

Now, here’s where YOU come in.

Because you’ve found your way to this site, chances are….you’re pretty savvy online compared to the majority of your friends. You’re aware of the scams that abound, you’re diligent about NOT plunking down your money if something sounds too good to be true.

Right?

Well then now, tell me this….are your friends just as knowledgeable?

ps – speaking about building lists, have you seen:

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TUTORIAL – 7 Of The MOST Fascinating Ways To Monetize Your Sidebar Part 1

Barbara — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:50:12 +0000

Ever sit down one morning atter enjoying 23 cups of coffee and say to yourself:

"Jeepers Self, I wonder if my blog’s sidebar is proactively Being All It Can Be and helping beef up my bottom line, compared to sending visitors screaming frantically in search of white out for their computer screen?"

Yep, me neither. However!

It IS a fact that your sidebar can either help you make money online…or simply wrap itself like a decayed sodden iron ball and chain around your hopeful future income.

And here’s how.

Step 1.) Take stock of how many ways you have to make money via your blog.

How ARE you making money from your site? You don’t have to make money today, you know…simply building your list or gaining subscribers goes leagues towards increasing FUTURE profits down the road.

Do you have an optin:

Newsletter
RSS feed
Free ebook
Free 7 Day eClass

If so, make certain to carve out a spot on your sidebar for that.

What about affiliate programs? Do you have favorite affiliate programs that you market?

If so, not only can you include links to specific products, but you can also use Amazon.com or eBay.com to add precisely targeted products as a final afterthought.

What about Adsense/PPC/etc.? Now, I personally don’t really use Adsense myself anymore (eBay is far more profitable for me) but hey, your mileage may vary. Make sure to incorporate that as well.

And hey! Do you have any OTHER favorite blogs? You can incorporate an RSS feed to those sites to showcase your other writings, your Twitter stream, your favorite stumbles etc.

What about your favorite links? You can create several link categories like so:

Favs – (here you’d put in your favorite blogs that you visit)
Resources – (here you’d put in affiliate links to your favorite products)

Now, you might be asking…why would you add links to your favorite blogs if you do not make any money off of them?

Simple!! For one thing, it’s good manners to highlight the sites you follow and appreciate…and for another, you can create some rather nifty blog exchanges with others in your niche.

This has the fantastic benefit of gently increasing visibility to both parties (you and the people to whom you link). That ensures more and more people find your blog online.

Co-operation and sharing online – it works wonders!

And wow, speaking of sharing…you probably have a presence in social networks, right?

Your sidebar is a prime location to easily give people a quick and easy method for networking up with you.

Hey! And I almost forgot – Blog Advertising (ie, those cute little 125×125 squares you can put on your site and then charge people for the privilege of advertising there!)

Once you’ve decided just what you want to add in your sidebar, move to:

Step 2.) Open a notepad and jot down EVERYTHING you want to include.

Yes, I know….keeping track of things is so non-computer-like. But trust me…it’s sooo easy to let critical items slip between the cracks when updating your sidebar.

Once you boldly have made the decision that YES I SHALL PREVAIL! and are ready to start tweakizing….

Step 3.) Ask yourself….HOW should I order them?

The most valuable real estate on your website is the top. Thus, you should have the most important business-relevant (ie, monetizing, networking, customer generation, etc.etc.etc.) resources right where your visitors simply CANNOT miss them.

For example, perhaps your main goal with your blog is to build your list.

You should blazingly offer your autoresponder optin as one of the most prominent features of your sidebar like so:

Or perhaps…you want to allow people to spread the word about your posts instead.

In that case, you’d highlight prominently all the ways people can Stumble or Digg or what have you…your post like BarbaraLing.com sidebar:

Once you finally have sketched out in your mind just HOW you want your sidebar to look….it’s time to:

Step 4.) Make It So!

Ah….make it so.

Now, if you’re comfortable hacking your wordpress theme (and it’s really not that difficult to do at all – my book, 21 Days to a More Profitable Blog goes into that), you can easily look at your sidebar.php code and add all the necessary tweakies. Remember, you might want to include your:

Newsletter
RSS feed
Free ebook
Network with me
Promote This Post
Other writings
Popular posts
Affiliate Programs
Favorite Links
Networked Sites
Advertising

to name a few.

If, by chance…you DON’T want to hack your code, you can see if your WordPress template has widgets that let you define, drag and drop blog components to your site. There are tons of useful widgets out there that will do what you desire such as:

Once you’re at the point to add components to your blog, make certain to have your notepad of resources to add….

and then check them off one by one once you’ve incorporated them into your site.

Rinse and repeat….until you’re done. And that’s it.

Some notes!

If you’d prefer to use tools for some of the tasks above, definitely check out Big Sellin Optins (that makes it easy to add your autoresponder/newsletter signup/etc. to your sidebar). And if you’re looking for an easy way to incorporate adsense/affiliate marketing, use the theme on which this site is running – FlexSqueeze (it’s really quite brilliantly done).

This concludes Part 1 of my tutorial about the 6 Most Terrifying Ways to Monetize Your Sidebar – tomorrow’s post will showcase some of the free and paid resources I use myself to get my sidebar…."just so". Catch you on the flip side!

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling

ps – speaking about monetizing your sidebar, have you seen:

250 WORDPRESS WP PLUGIN MAKE MONEY BLOG BLOGGING RESALE

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